Melbourne spent the bulk of 2012 at the top of the competition and only the runner-up Bulldogs could wrestle away the number one spot at the business end of the season.

But the Storm ultimately prevailed thanks to the time-tested combination of their big three - Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk - under the guidance of long-time coach Craig Bellamy.

Each of those three players are match winners and are dangerous enough on their own but if one misses significant time through injury, as Slater did last season, Melbourne certainly feels the impact.

The Storm have some tough clashes in the first few weeks to test the mettle of their premiership defence: the Cowboys in Townsville (round two), at home to the Bulldogs (round three) before road trips to Brisbane (round four) and the Rabbitohs (round six).

Melbourne is all but a lock for finals football but expect Canterbury to be at the front of a long list of teams gunning for the premiers.

The Bulldogs got to the big dance in new coach Des Hasler's first season at Belmore but they fell one victory short of taking it all. You can bet they will be a better side for the experience this time around.

Canterbury's forward pack was a force to be reckoned with in 2012 and this time around it is even tougher with Manly enforcer Tony "T-Rex" Williams joining fellow internationals Krisnan Inu, Sam Perrett, Sam Kasiano and James Graham in the blue and white.

The big blow for the Bulldogs will be the indefinite absence of Ben Barba, whom the club stood down at the eleventh hour due to numerous off-field personal issues.

The lightning full-back's first-half hat-trick at Lang Park in last month's All Stars fixture sounded an ominous warning to all rivals that this could just be the year of the Dog, but suddenly it is unknown whether he will return to the playing field in a week, a month or this season at all.

Canterbury hosts North Queensland in round one before round three's grand final re-match in Melbourne. Hasler's troops face key battles with South Sydney, Manly and the Sharks inside the first eight rounds.

South Sydney has not won a premiership since 1971, but last season was the closest the Bunnies have been in 41 years. They fell over at the penultimate hurdle in a 32-8 thumping at the hands of eventual runner-up Canterbury.

But it was an encouraging result for the boys in green and red in Michael Maguire's first season in charge. The Rabbitohs returned to the finals after a five-year hiatus and won their first play-offs game since 1987 when they knocked Canberra out of the semis.

Like the Bulldogs, the Bunnies will take a lot of confidence from their 2012 campaign and look to be a solid premiership threat this year.

While hulking representative forward Dave Taylor was lost to Gold Coast, the Burgess brothers (of which there are now three) and former Bronco Ben Te'o will pick up the slack.

South Sydney boasts excellent playmaking in Andrew Everingham, Adam Reynolds and Issac Luke as well as the sheer dominance of Greg Inglis, who took to the full-back role like a duck to water last season. Expect him to be even better in 2013.

The Bunnies will take on the big-money Roosters in round one and run into the Bulldogs (round four), Storm (round six) and Cowboys (round nine) early on.

The Sea Eagles might have been under scrutiny amid the damaging drugs-in-sport revelations and the Stephen Dank saga of recent times, but coach Geoff Toovey reckons it has been easy compared to last season's build-up.

A year after losing coach Des Hasler and other members of the club's staff to Canterbury, Toovey says things at Brookvale have been "much more consistent".

That can only be good news for the 2011 premiers, who will be guided around the park by rising star halves pairing Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran.

Expect these two to shine brighter than ever in 2013 with another year of experience playing together under their belts, not to mention the fact that all-time great Andrew Johns has been mentoring them full-time.

Another sigh of relief at Brookvale will be the confirmation from the NRL's salary cap auditors that Brett Stewart's big-money deal is all kosher.

Manly lost hulking back rower Tony Williams to the Bulldogs but Toovey hopes new addition Justin Horo and surprise New South Wales Origin call-up Jamie Buhrer can handle the load.

The Silvertails kick off their season away to Brisbane and have a solid schedule before meeting former coach Hasler's Bulldogs in the league's newest grudge match in round five. Clashes against South Sydney (round seven) and the Storm in Melbourne (round 10) also loom in the first half of the campaign.

The Cowboys could be forgiven for thinking it is now or never for their premiership hopes, with star five-eighth Johnathan Thurston coming off contract at the end of 2013 and various whispers linking him to a return to Sydney.

The closest North Queensland has got to the season decider since its maiden grand final appearance in 2005 is the prelims two years later, but the Townsville-based franchise's best chances of keeping the Australia and Queensland star is by proving it has the manpower to win that elusive title.

Once again the Cowboys' biggest asset (aside from Thurston) will be their forward pack, with rising star James Tamou leading an impressive group of bruisers that also includes Matt Scott,Ashton and Tariq Sims and Glenn Hall.

Evergreen little master Matt Bowen is never short of a highlight reel-worthy play and Ray Thompson showed solid form in 2012 while winger Ashley Graham was equal best try-scorer in the NRL last year.

And there is no rest for the wicked - North Queensland faces Canterbury in Sydney in round one before returning home to host the Storm the following week. Things get a little easier from there before they meet the Rabbitohs at the Olympic stadium in round nine.

A controversial disallowed try in North Queensland's loss to Manly in the second week of the finals last year denied the Cowboys a chance to show they were genuine premiership contenders. Expect them to play with a chip on their shoulders this time around.

The Raiders absolutely stormed home to finish the 2012 season, sneaking into the top eight thanks to a late surge that produced eight wins from their final 10 fixtures.

If the Green Machine can carry some of that momentum - excluding the semi-final defeat to South Sydney, of course - into the start of the 2013 campaign, coach David Furner will be very happy.

It was tough graft for Canberra last year with star five-eighth Terry Campese out of action after undergoing his second knee surgery and Sam Williams and Josh McCrone taking over playmaking duties.

Campese's expected to return in round three, but his side has a relatively calm schedule over the first few weeks with encounters at Penrith, Gold Coast and Newcastle (round four) with a home opener in week three against the Dragons.

Furner also hopes that star full-back Josh Dugan can shake off an inconsistent 2012 and rediscover the hot form that earned him a maiden State of Origin call-up in 2011 to lead the Raiders into battle this year.

Canberra certainly is not short of muscle though, with hulking representative stars David Shillington and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs leading a pack also boasting Mark Nicholls, Dane Tilse and rising star Josh Papalii, who is Parramatta-bound in 2014.

If there is an unassuming team to be afraid of in 2013, it is Shane Flanagan's Cronulla outfit.

The Sharks recorded their best finish (12-1-11) in four seasons last year before being dumped in the first weekend of the finals by Canberra.

Representative stars Paul Gallen and Todd Carney were the guiding lights, but Flanagan recognised the need to surround them with back-up in the event of injury - something both players suffered in 2012.

Cronulla has brought in plenty of reinforcement in the off-season, adding former Panthers captain Luke Lewis and winger Michael Gordon, England forward Chris Heighington and his Tigers team-mate Beau Ryan to the mix for a truly balanced line-up at Shark Park.

That is some serious firepower to add to a talented group also including 2012 recruit Jeff Robson, workhorses Wade Graham and Andrew Fifita and prop Bryce Gibbs.

There is no rest for Cronulla with encounters against the big-name Titans and South Sydney in rounds one and two before the Bulldogs come to the Shire in week eight.

Losing one of the greatest playmakers to strap on the boots in Darren Lockyer was not easy on the Broncos last year, but another veteran star returns to Red Hill in Scott Prince.

The 33-year-old last played for Brisbane in 2003 and has been the face of the Titans franchise since its inception into the NRL. But he has come back up the M3 and coach Anthony Griffin will be hoping he'll bring plenty of big-game experience to the table.

The Broncos did cop some losses over the off-season though, with the pack now missing Petero Civoniceva (retirement) and Ben Te'o (Souths) while the backline will not be able to call on full-back Gerard Beale (Dragons).

Brisbane is also uncertain when Test winger Jharal Yow Yeh will return from the sickening leg injury he suffered last season, so it will be up to Griffin to figure out who is the right man to fill each gap in the starting 13.

Skipper Sam Thaiday has the C on his jumper for the second season since Lockyer's departure and Broncos fans will hope he has learnt from the experience in 2012 after admitting he struggled with the pressure of leading the side.

Brisbane hosts Manly in a round one Friday night blockbuster at Lang Park and has the Roosters, Storm, Titans and Cowboys looming in the first six rounds. State of Origin time is always a killer for the Broncos so getting off to a strong start is especially crucial.

Steve Price's Dragons outfit finished ninth last season, one win and a huge points differential out of the finals. The Red V's offseason signings don't exactly point to a high-scoring 2013 either.

St George Illawarra added talented Broncos back Gerard Beale as well as a handful of forwards to fill the void left by retiring stalwarts Dean Young and Ben Hornby and Newcastle-bound veteran Beau Scott.

One can expect the Dragons to continue their tough defence, which is obviously a crucial element of the game, but they need to find a way to score tries.

Beale will be a welcome addition and will join Brett Morris and Jamie Soward as attacking threats, but injuries to any one of those blokes could leave St George Illawarra thin.

It's Price's sophomore year at Wollongong and as such the scrutiny and comparisons to just-departed Wayne Bennett should have receded somewhat. But without four-pointers, the Red V could be staring down the barrel of another finish outside the eight.

Their early draw looks ugly too, with a Sunday afternoon season opener in Melbourne against the Storm before hosting the Broncos in round two. Away games against the Sharks, Roosters and Titans all appear on the schedule before week 10.

In his first season in charge of Wests Tigers, Mick Potter has a veritable smorgasbord of talent to choose from across the park. The Tigers brought Braith Anasta to Leichhardt this season to add to an all-star cast that couldn't quite get going in 2012 after a 1-5 start.

One exciting prospect for Potter's side this year is the return from injury of young full-back James Tedesco, who showed glimpses of the potential former coach Tim Sheens saw in the lad but suffered a knee injury half an hour into the 2012 opener and missed the whole season.

The Tigers lost representative forwards Gareth Ellis (English Super League) and Chris Heighington (Sharks) as well as centre Beau Ryan (Sharks), but they are still stacked with powerful forwards and exciting backs led by none other than Benji Marshall at six.

Tim Moltzen will challenge Tedesco for the full-back job while Anasta will likely want to play lock, although Liam Fulton will give him a run for his money in the number 13 jersey.

Matt Utai and Fijian revelation and club Rookie of the Year Marika Koroibete will have their chance to shine on the wings while veteran Lote Tuqiri (who just can't take a trick, can he?) recovers from biceps surgery.

The Tigers are a force to be reckoned with under new coach Potter in 2013. Fresh faces and a fresh start could bode very well for the joint venture club, which has a soft draw (at Newcastle, home to Penrith and Parramatta) in the opening rounds before the true tests of their premiership mettle come at Manly and Melbourne in rounds four and five.

The Titans' signings for 2013 might have been figuratively slim, but in terms of physical proportions one in particular is huge.

Gold Coast welcomes man mountain Dave "Coal Train" Taylor to the south-east Queensland glitter strip this year after a three-year stint in the second row at South Sydney.

Taylor has been training on the right side to make a devastating combination with Jamal Idris, adding reinforcement to a stellar pack already containing Nate Myles and Greg Bird and veteran workhorse Luke Bailey.

But do John Cartwright's men have the balance at the back to get season 2013 underway in better fashion than their 2-7 start to last year?

Young backs Matt Srama and Aidan Sezer showed their impressive potential last season but they do have big boots to fill with foundation player Scott Prince heading north to the Broncos.

The Titans are at Skilled Park for five of the first seven rounds, with the Broncos and Sea Eagles the only strong threats in that stretch. If Gold Coast can build a better early-season foundation than last year, they could put a real scare through some sides.

A 12th-place finish probably was not the result super coach Wayne Bennett was expecting in his first season at Newcastle, which also coincided with his first non-finals finish since 1991.

The Knights were up and down under Bennett's reign, unable to register back-to-back wins until rounds 15 and 16, but the absence of veteran playmaker Kurt Gidley (shoulder surgery) from round six onwards sure did not help.

But despite the loss of some key personnel in the off-season, Newcastle has managed to shore up its pack with veteran forwards Beau Scott, Jeremy Smith and utility Anthony Quinn from Melbourne.

The Knights also have quite the asset in New South Wales Origin winger Akuila Uate, while seasoned workhorses Danny Buderus and Willie Mason return for another go around.

Expect the troops to be more settled under Benny this time around, and vice versa. Newcastle has a couple of challenges early on in hosting the Tigers (round one) and Cowboys (round three) with a visit to Fortress Brookvale in between.

They will want to have some consistency bedded down by round 10 when Canterbury visits before road trips to the Rabbitohs' turf (round 12) and AAMI Park to face the Storm (round 14).

If money spent guaranteed a premiership, the Sydney Roosters would have this year's title locked down already.

Chairman Nick Politis was not shy about opening the chequebook as he looked ahead to 2013, bringing Warriors pivot James Maloney andex-Panther Michael Jennings to Bondi Junction as well as luring Luke O'Donnell home from the English Super League.

Oh, and there is that Sonny Bill Williams bloke from rugby union and the boxing ring too.

It has been a tough run over the last few the tri-colours, who went from the 2009 wooden spoon to the grand final a year later before slipping back into the mire for an 11th-placed finish in 2011 and unlucky 13th last year.

But 2013 shapes as an interesting one under new coach Trent Robinson, who has returned to Australia after two seasons in charge of French side Catalans Dragons.

He takes the reins of a side positively brimming with attacking firepower and a potent halves combination in Maloney and newly re-signed half-back Mitchell Pearce, as well as a competitive pack including the monstrous Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Frank-Paul Nuuauasala and Aidan Guerra.

The Chooks have their work cut out for them as they kick the competition off on Thursday night against the Rabbitohs at the SFS but, aside from Canterbury (round six), North Queensland (round nine) and Melbourne (10), there are few challenges awaiting them in the early stages of the season.

How the mighty fell in 2012. Just a year removed from their barnstorming 2011 finals campaign and appearance in the big dance against the Sea Eagles, the Warriors fell apart and turned in their worst season (8-16) since 2004 (6-18).

They lost eight straight to finish the year, with the only silver lining being that things cannot get that much worse. First-year coach Brian McClennan was dumped two games before season's end and Matthew Elliott takes the reins in 2013.

The Warriors will certainly miss star playmaker James Maloney, who returned to Sydney to link with the Roosters from this season, as well as veteran campaigner Micheal Luck (retired).

Otherwise their roster has not changed significantly, although the New Zealanders have added experienced Storm pair Dane Nielsen and Todd Lowrie as well as veteran half-back Thomas Leuluai, who is returning from five seasons in the English Super League.

Attacking power will come in the form of Manu "The Beast" Vatuvei (if he can stay out of judiciary trouble), impressive hooker Nathan Friend and rising star half-back Shaun Johnson, who has an elbow injury but is confident of returning for the first month of the season.

The Warriors have a bit of potential there and with a soft (on paper) start to the season - away to Parramatta, home to the Chooks, away to Cronulla - some early confidence could not hurt.

Parramatta is another club to have suffered an exodus of experienced talent after the 2012 season.

The pain of the Eels' last-place finish and 6-18 record was compounded by the retirements of veteran stars Nathan Hindmarsh and Luke Burt and stalwart Casey McGuire.

But the Eels brass are putting their faith in former New South Wales State of Origin coach Ricky Stuart for the 2013 campaign.

Stuart returns to the NRL sidelines for the first time since his stint with the Sharks in 2010 hoping to change the Eels' fortunes, and frankly the only way is up.

The Eels have not added many names - Darcy Lussick is the stand-out - so it is up to the club's stars in Jarryd Hayne, Chris Sandow and Tim Mannah to takecontrol on the park.

Parramatta starts its season at home to the Warriors and despite hosting the runner-up Bulldogs a week later on a Thursday night, the Eels' schedule is laden with 2012's bottom-eight sides in the early rounds.